1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal, and more particularly to a folder type mobile terminal having an output device/speaker/receiver positioned on both a front and rear side of a cover part of the terminal.
2. Background of the Related Art
A mobile terminal is generally divided into a stick type, a flip type, a slide type and a folder type. The folder type mobile terminal includes a covet part that rotates or swivels via a hinge connecting the cover part to the main body of the terminal.
For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a folder type mobile terminal with a cover part 200 that can be rotated about its axis. The cover part 200 may also be folded and unfolded with respect to a main body part 100. As shown, the folder type mobile terminal includes the cover part 200 having a display unit 210 and a receiver 10, the main body part 100 having a key pad, and a hinge part 300 connecting the cover part 200 and the body part 100. Note the hinge part 300 includes a swivel 310 allowing the cover part 200 to rotate by 180° clockwise or counterclockwise about its longitudinal axis. The cover part 200 may also be folded and unfolded with respect to the main body part 100.
Next, FIG. 2 illustrates different open and closed states of the folder type mobile terminal. For the sake of explanation, the opened or closed states of the folder type mobile terminal are defined with respect to a rotational state of the cover part 200 as follows.
First, regarding the cover part 200, the side on which the display unit 210 (see FIG. 1) is mounted is a front side and the opposite side is a rear side. Further, a state in which an angle between the cover part 200 and the body part 100 widens at its maximum is defined as an ‘opened state,’ while a state in which the cover part 200 covers the body part 100 is defined as a ‘closed state.’
Further, because the cover part 200 can swivel about the main body part 100, there are four additional states as follows and as shown in FIG. 2: 1) when the mobile terminal is opened with the cover part 200 rotated by 180°, this state is defined as a ‘rear side opened state’; 2) when the mobile terminal is closed with the cover part 200 rotated by 180°, this state is defined as a ‘rear side closed state’; 3) when the mobile terminal is opened with the cover part non-rotated, this state is defined as a ‘front side opened state’; and 4) when the mobile terminal is closed with the cover part non-rotated, this state is defined as a ‘front side closed state.’
Turning now to FIG. 3, which illustrates an operational process of the related art mobile terminal for answering a phone call in the ‘rear side closed state.’ When a base station initiates a call through a paging channel, the mobile terminal rings or vibrates to inform a user about the phone call and then the user then opens the cover part 200 or presses an arbitrary button (call button) to answer the call. Note in this example, it is assumed the user answers the call when the cover part 200 is opened.
As shown in FIG. 3, when the mobile terminal is in the ‘rear side closed state,’ the user answers the incoming call using the following two procedures: first, the user opens the cover part 200 of the mobile terminal (rear side closed state→rear side opened state); and second, the user swivels or rotates the cover part 200 by 180° (rear side opened state→front side opened state). Thus, with these operations, the mobile terminal is in a call available state and the user can communication with the caller.
In addition, because the receiver 10 is provided at the front side of the cover part 200, the user can communicate with the caller only when the mobile terminal is in the front side opened state. Thus, if a call is received when the mobile terminal is in the rear side closed state, the user must perform the two-step manipulation as discussed above (namely, rear side closed state→rear side opened state, rear side opened state→front side opened state). Further, during the second manipulation (rear side opened state→front side opened state), the user needs to use both hands, which is very inconvenient and quite troublesome especially when the user is performing another operation such as driving a car.